Volume 1, Issue 12

NATIONAL ACADEMY BRIEFING - "EXPLORING A VISION: INTEGRATING KNOWLEDGE  FOR FOOD AND HEALTH"

April 6, 2004

I had the opportunity yesterday, April 5, to attend a National Academy briefing on the above topic and to look closely at the report at the academy has just released.

As many of you are aware, the above report (Exploring A Vision:  Integrating Knowledge for Food and Health) is the result of a request from NASULGC to the National Academy and specifically the Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources to evaluate the food system from the viewpoint of research, education and outreach, on the Nations diet,  health and nutrition in light of the growing concerns with increasing obesity in the U.S. Population and the long-term health consequences.
 
Many of you are also aware that this effort came from the NASULGC Food and Society Initiative supported by the Kellogg Foundation and the report is the end result of a conference held June 2003 at the National Academy of Science.

While some of the suggestions and findings that will come as no
surprise, they are the cumulative thinking of the participants and
hopefully will continue to help raise the visibility of this issue with
the public, agencies, government, etc.:

• Organization. No single organization or agency can solve the food related health issues alone. Addressing the obesity issue, in particularly, will require a multidisciplinary strategy that includes research on foods, consumer knowledge and behavior, and the economics of food and health-related activities, including pricing, health care costs, and agricultural support pro

grams. Workshop participants stressed that the nation needs better mechanisms to address food-related health issues.

• Form Interdisciplinary Bridges. Connect the food and health components at institutions, such as universities, where departments are cut off from each other by physical, conceptual or historical barriers.
  
• Reevaluate Reward Structures. Investigators are often trained and rewarded for individual work rather than teamwork. Rewarding investigators who act as liaisons between individuals and teams could help resolve the issue
  
• Revise Support Infrastructure. A new structure that bridges agriculture and health could help to overcome support issues such a obtaining adequate funding for research.
  
• Identify a Champion. A person or a body with high visibility and integrity could promote awareness of the interdependence of food and health and the need for research.
  
• Greater Integrate of Food-Health Research with Behavioral Studies. Identify and address the dearth of research on the behavioral and social factors that influence food and lifestyle choices.
  
• Begin Nutrition Education in Early Childhood. Early education will reinforce healthful eating habits, and might also be conveyed from child to parent.
  
• Examine Agricultural Policies. Agricultural policies, such as farm subsidies, and production practices should be examined as they relate to consumers and their healthier food choices.